Abstract
Background
The World Health Organization has described oral diseases as a global health problem in developing countries and this is mainly attributed to low level of oral health awareness. It, therefore, becomes imperative to investigate how people are informed about oral health care.
Aim
To determine the sources of oral health-care information and predictors of oral health awareness among individuals seeking dental care at a major tertiary health institution in sub-Saharan Africa.
Methods
A cross-sectional study was conducted among patients aged 16 years and older attending the dental outpatients of a major teaching hospital using structured questionnaires. Data obtained were analyzed with SPSS version 23.
Results
A total of 292 patients with a mean age of 38.4 (SD = 16.3) years participated in the study of which 188 (64.4%) had been educated about oral health prior to the dental consultation. The major source of oral health-care information was dental clinics for 174 (92.6%) participants. The educators or resource persons were mainly dentists 105 (55.9%) and nurses or therapists 67 (35.6%). Females were more likely to have received oral health-care information (odds ratio [OR] = 1.8, CI [1.1, 3.0], p = .021). Those with previous dental visits were also more likely to have received information about oral health care (OR = 2.6, CI [1.6, 4.2], p < .001).
Conclusion
Dental clinics and dentists were the major sources of oral health-care information; being female and previous dental visits were significant positive predictors of being a recipient of oral health-care information. Dental public health education through mass and social media should be made a priority to improve access to oral health-care information.
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